When Do Copyrights Expire?

by Kelley Way

With all the copyrighted works of 1929 entering the public domain as of January 1, it’s a good time to ask how copyrights work, and when do copyrights expire.

Yes, all copyrighted works will expire at some point. The U.S. Constitution specifically says that creative works can be protected “for a limited duration,” meaning they must expire sometime. When they do expire, they are said to enter “the public domain,” the magical place where free-to-use content resides. Works in the public domain can be used by anyone, for any reason, without having to get permission or pay royalties (with some limited exceptions – see my article on the public domain.)

So when do copyrights expire?

That question is trickier than you might think because it depends on when the work was copyrighted in the first place. The Copyright Act of 1976 changed how the entire system worked, and a dividing line was created on January 1, 1978 (when the Copyright Act took effect).

For works published before this date, they got a flat 28 years of protection. If they wanted their copyright to last longer, they had to renew their copyright with the Copyright Office to get another 28 years. This caused many problems and confusion, and eventually, the law was changed to give these works a flat 95 years of protection, with no renewal required. On the plus side, it’s now easier to know when these works enter the public domain, and it’s how January 1 became Public Domain Day.

For works created after January 1, 1978, copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. So, none of these works will be entering the public domain anytime soon, and people who want to determine the copyright status of a specific work will have to do some legwork to find out if and when the copyright author died before they can determine the copyright’s expiration date.

This extended copyright duration is very nice for copyright authors. However – if the copyright is actually making money, they can plan for it to keep making money for years after they’re gone. It can be a great way to provide for loved ones or donate to worthy causes if they set things up properly.

The intersection of copyright and estate planning law is my specialty. If you have questions about copyright law or how to incorporate copyrights into your will and trust, please reach me at [email protected].